Hi guys Up until a couple of months ago I had been writing a fantasy book. I wrote ten long chapters, and had been working on it for a year. Eventually, after a lot of editing work, I realised that I wasn't really enjoying the plot or some of the characters, so I've recently been planning a new book. I wanted to ask you guys what sort of creatures/species/races you want to see inhabit a fantasy world which ranges from deserts of sand to wastelands of ice If you do reply to this then please give your honest thoughts, it'd be very helpful!

You could bring some old folkloric beings back to the surface in your stories. Old, old creatures, long forgotten and pushed out of the limelight by Orcs, Elves, and Dwarves, which don't get me wrong, were folkloric at a point in history, but are now nearly synonymous with the works of Tolkien and his interpretation of them. Not Tolkien-bashing either, but the tried and true interpretations of the races can get a little, well, tried.

Well, off the top of my head...how about if dinosaurs had not died out so long ago and competed with the race of men...and/or comets that are thought to have brought water to our early earth, a few rare comets brought magic to your world, giving birth to dragons and/or other dinosaurs and humans the ability to use magic... Just thinking out loud.-Tower

Aeridian wrote: Have you thought about Owlbears? It's just like the name sounds like, a bear-like creature with owl features mixed in.

They sound pretty cool. I'll have to think about using them, but they'd definately make it more interesting

mpoh98 wrote:I think it would be funny if you had a race of not very smart bear/dog/ape like creatures, that are evil, but dumb, called Qeq. The name implies just sounds like a race that is not so smart.

Haha! I have actually considered that kind of thing, and your name 'Qeq' brings them more to life!

OverLoad wrote:You could bring some old folkloric beings back to the surface in your stories. Old, old creatures, long forgotten and pushed out of the limelight by Orcs, Elves, and Dwarves, which don't get me wrong, were folkloric at a point in history, but are now nearly synonymous with the works of Tolkien and his interpretation of them. Not Tolkien-bashing either, but the tried and true interpretations of the races can get a little, well, tried.That being said, I think it would be easier to gauge what sort of creatures fit into your realm if there was a bit more information regarding how your fantasy world is.

I'm staying away from a lot of the classic Tolkien fantasy, only because it's used so much.Living in Cornwall (England), pixies appear in a lot of old stories See the next post for a more detailed description of the world.

Tower of Iron Will wrote:Well, off the top of my head...how about if dinosaurs had not died out so long ago and competed with the race of men...and/or comets that are thought to have brought water to our early earth, a few rare comets brought magic to your world, giving birth to dragons and/or other dinosaurs and humans the ability to use magic... Just thinking out loud.-Tower

The northern lands go from having huge mountain ranges to low, flat moorland. Large, untamed forests are also very common. The country that's furthest north is a peninsula, and is covered in ice for most of the year.The centre of the world is similar to Britain today, though parts of it would be more like Italy. There are many deciduous forests and woods that spread for miles, and I would like these to be inhabited by quite a few different races.The southern lands are not mostly desert; they are in fact covered in mile upon mile of grassland. A few forests are quite similar to rainforests, though these aren't that big.

I hope that gives you a bit of an idea as to what the world is like. It is rather similar to the real world in the sense that the places found there are very similar to parts of earth today

I had a flash of inspiration this morning whilst doing my paperround. I thought that, since I won't be finishing the book any time soon, I could post small 'snippets' here, just so you get to read something. I should have the first one up soon

SSchmidt wrote:I think it is always wise to show others your work to receive valuable feedback and perspectives you wouldn't otherwise consider. Looking forward to it!

I would definately agree. I often show a couple of my friends at school what I've done and what I'm working on, and they often come up with ideas I'd never have thought of!

I've more than dabbled in writing myself, but often I do it just by myself. I might join ya and add some ideas, short stories, character backgrounds, histories and all sorts of fun stuff! Because I'd love to get some imput from Castle/Lego/Fantasy/story-lovin' people like the CC folk!

Aeridian wrote:I've more than dabbled in writing myself, but often I do it just by myself. I might join ya and add some ideas, short stories, character backgrounds, histories and all sorts of fun stuff! Because I'd love to get some imput from Castle/Lego/Fantasy/story-lovin' people like the CC folk!

Please do! I'm gonna put up some character profiles, as well as other bits and bobs